# sum12nv's New Air AW-280E Wineador Build w/ Fan Install



## sum12nv (Aug 22, 2011)

*Hello fellow BOTL's!

I wanted to start my own Wineador thread to share my own build. One major difference I have with my build is the fact that I'm wiring computer case fans instead of using battery powered oust fans for circulation. I know i've seen a few post about people asking how this could be done so here is my personal take on it. My build is not 100% complete as of yet. I will be adding more pictures once I receive my drawer and shelf order from Forrest.

I read several different ways to clean the plastic smell from the wine cooler and went with a good ole scrubbing of distilled white vinegar and then left the door open for 5 days and couldn't smell a hint of plastic. I did purchase some activated charcoal packets which I plan on leaving in there for several days just to be safe.

Here's the exterior shot of the New Air AW-280E*









*Next I drilled a 3/8 hole to fit the fan cables through the back of the wine cooler's case*









*Here's my two 60mm computer case fans that I mounted to two pieces of spanish cedar. I found some nylon bushings and stainless screws at the local hardware store to mount it all up*









*Here are the fans and cables ran through the hole I drilled. After running the cables through I filled the new hole and factory drain hole with aquarium silicone to give it a good seal *









*Here is my fan and fan controller setup. The fans themselves only came with a short piece of cable so I bought two 12" fan extension cables. I decided to clip the connectors off and solder and heat shrink the connections then ran both cables with new ends through some computer wiring loom to clean up the install. The fans hook up to a 12v to 120v fan speed controller (the item with the knobs) This allows me to adjust fan speed if desired and converts the fans from 12v dc to 120v ac. The fan speed controller plugs into a aquarium light timer which will allow me to have the fans come on for 15 minutes every hour or two. Basically whatever I want in 15 minute intervals. The timer and the wine cooler will plug into a outlet strip so then I will just have one cord running to the wall receptacle*









*Here is everything installed on the back on the wineador. I think it made for a pretty clean install and looks pretty sharp*









*Like I said up above I will update this thread once I receive my drawers from forrest and get all my KL setup. I'm super excited to get this all going and show everyone the final results. If you have any questions about the fan install dont hesitate to ask. I can also provide you with a parts list of what I all purchased to set this up if you are interested

-Jason*


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## smokin_dad (Jan 25, 2012)

Looks great!!! Love what you did with the fans! Cant wait to see it with your drawers and stocked!!! Keep us posted.


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## gosh (Oct 17, 2011)

Love the setup, love the fanbus! Seriously great job.


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## piperdown (Jul 19, 2009)

Good job Jason!


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## AnthonySzum (Nov 26, 2010)

This really does look awesome! Nice job!


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## ten08 (Sep 8, 2011)

I like how everything is tucked away but still accessible. Clean install!


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## nikonnut (Dec 4, 2011)

I'm thinking somebody builds their own computers :lol: Love the cable management!


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## sum12nv (Aug 22, 2011)

Thank you everyone!



nikonnut said:


> I'm thinking somebody builds their own computers :lol: Love the cable management!


Guilty! haha

Ive actually only built one pc in my time but learned a lot doing it. The left over cable management parts came in very handy


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## cavscout98 (Apr 14, 2012)

Very nice! I can't wait to make one of these myself. I will be back to this thread in a couple of months to remember your setup


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## sum12nv (Aug 22, 2011)

JJGeis said:


> I will be back to this thread in a couple of months to remember your setup


Sounds good brother, just let me know if you have any questions


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## Dubv23 (Aug 3, 2011)

This looks awesome. Nice work! I was contemplating a fan for my cooler just to keep the air moving and this is kind of what I was looking to do. Very clean looking.


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## sum12nv (Aug 22, 2011)

Will - Thanks for the kind words


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## ryanbish (May 3, 2012)

From witnessing the awesomeness of this project first hand, I can say it's going to be a great winedor when it's all finished! There may be a chance I have to rent some space in it if I don't find someone who can perform a "Devil Site Exorcism" sometime soon!


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## sum12nv (Aug 22, 2011)

Thanks Ryan! And yes we need to send you through cbid rehab soon or we could just convert one of your rooms in your house to a walk in humidor.


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## sum12nv (Aug 22, 2011)

*UPDATE 6/19/12* Finally received my drawers and shelves from Forrest! Everything looks great. Here's a little teaser pic until I get some better ones


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## MontyTheMooch (May 27, 2012)

Very nice. I gots ta get me one of those. I've raised the ire of a couple of people and am sure there's a hurtin coming.


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## sum12nv (Aug 22, 2011)

Getting it all stocked up!


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## wrx04 (Apr 1, 2012)

That looks great! What did you do to season the drawers and how long did that take?


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## choinga (Aug 11, 2010)

...I thought about doing this with mine but came to the conclusion that it wouldn't really matter. And, I was right. I wasn't going to pre-emptively do it...wanted to see how the box acted in its stock configuration and if airflow wasns't good...then I'd make the effort.

Turns out, the built-in fan in these things run all the time...and if you leave the area directly in front of the fan open with little obstruction and air will blow to the front of the unit and then up and down providing ample airflow.

My box stays at +/- 2 degrees RH and temp top to bottom. I keep the media at the bottom charged and don't mess with anything up top or in the middle. I use a combo of 65% HCL bags and Heartfelt beads in tubes. I probably have around 2lbs in the unit, which may be a bit much but it comes back fast when the door is open. I'm in TX and the ambient room temp stays at 75. I keep the unit on 64 and the temp stays at 70/71 and the RH is 63-65.

It took messing with several drawer/ flat shelf where I put my boxes configurations to find the magic spot...but frankly, I need all the room I can get. I've got that false bottom drawer from Forrest and I keep an entire box of Rocky Patel 50's under there with a bunch of bead tubes. I need every square inch...and knew it in advance...which was also the reason I put off additional fans until I could figure out whether I needed them or not.

Looks good though - enjoy!


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## jphank (Apr 29, 2012)

Great Liga Privada pr0n! hoto:

You may find that KL in the drawers may be necessary. Have you tried moving your hygrometer around?


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## sum12nv (Aug 22, 2011)

wrx04 said:


> That looks great! What did you do to season the drawers and how long did that take?


I seasoned them for about 3 days. I placed 4 sponges that were soaked and squeezed out of distilled water on some plates and just watched my hygrometer. Once it got up to 75% I romed it all and started adding cigars



choinga said:


> ...I thought about doing this with mine but came to the conclusion that it wouldn't really matter. And, I was right. I wasn't going to pre-emptively do it...wanted to see how the box acted in its stock configuration and if airflow wasns't good...then I'd make the effort.
> 
> Turns out, the built-in fan in these things run all the time...and if you leave the area directly in front of the fan open with little obstruction and air will blow to the front of the unit and then up and down providing ample airflow.
> 
> ...


Yea I did the fan install way before I received the shelves. I wanted a little project and it was fun to do. Like you say I don't know if it's necessary but can't hurt anything



jphank said:


> Great Liga Privada pr0n! hoto:
> 
> You may find that KL in the drawers may be necessary. Have you tried moving your hygrometer around?


I have one KL container up top and one in the middle drawer. Just cant see them in the pics


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## xGaspy (Jan 6, 2013)

Absolutely great build, brother. I am going through all the same stuff right now and keep flip-flopping on the fact of whether I need a fan set up or not. Waiting on my shelves from Forrest as well, and hopefully yours are also the Bloodwood, because they look GREAT! I wanted to do Cocobolo originally but it isn't available at the moment. But I did want to reach out to get that list of parts you mentioned so I can just buy and plug and play type deal. Also, what is the tray you're using for your beads? I want to do the same thing, dealing with the bags and re-hydrating them is a pain. One final, how much humidity media are you using in the middle drawer? 

Thanks so much in advance for your help man. Great build and awesome write up!

PS: Please send me all your Liga drawers  :smoke2:


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## sum12nv (Aug 22, 2011)

xGaspy said:


> Absolutely great build, brother. I am going through all the same stuff right now and keep flip-flopping on the fact of whether I need a fan set up or not. Waiting on my shelves from Forrest as well, and hopefully yours are also the Bloodwood, because they look GREAT! I wanted to do Cocobolo originally but it isn't available at the moment. But I did want to reach out to get that list of parts you mentioned so I can just buy and plug and play type deal. Also, what is the tray you're using for your beads? I want to do the same thing, dealing with the bags and re-hydrating them is a pain. One final, how much humidity media are you using in the middle drawer?
> 
> Thanks so much in advance for your help man. Great build and awesome write up!
> 
> PS: Please send me all your Liga drawers  :smoke2:


Hey Andrew, thanks for the kind words on the build. Sorry i'm so late getting back to you. Dont get over here to often anymore. I dont think you _need_ a fan setup but wouldnt hurt anything. The Bloodwood was my 2nd choice so I'm sure it will look great. I'm trying to remember where I purchased all the parts from. As for how much media I never really measured. I figure its always better to have to much than to little. If your RH is to low you can always add more distilled water to bring it up. It's been almost a year since I built it and dont have all the receipts anymore. I'll list what I can remember. Hope this helps!

Fan speed controller - SilenX IXA-FCEX Controller, Panel - Newegg.com

Fans - Vantec Stealth 60mm Double Ball Bearing Silent Case Fan - Model SF6025L - Newegg.com

Fan Extensions - Rosewill 12" Fan power supply cable Model RCW-308 - Newegg.com

Everything else you should be able to buy from the hardware store and the timer I bought at Pet Smart in the Aquarium area.


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## fdfirebiz (Sep 30, 2012)

i have a newair 280 using kl 2lb in media bags but im also running a small hydra with a large computer fan at the bottom of my winador as an insurance policy lol this way if the kl humidity gets to low my hydra kicks on at 65% and the computer fan runs only when the hydra is running circulates the air well. my humidity usually hangs around 68% humidity so i have the hydra set at like 64%


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## Harley3381 (Nov 4, 2008)

Thats a great looking set up Jason. Thanks for the good info and inspiring more puffers to spend some money.


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## Harley3381 (Nov 4, 2008)

Jason those bloodwood faces look great! Planning my wineador build and trying to decide if the different wood is worth the cost. I do think the bloodwood looks good in the black newair's!


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## MaduroWerewolf (Mar 18, 2013)

I REALLY like the way you set this up! I have an oust fan in my AW280 and I have a cigar oasis and 2lbs of heartfelt beds (69RH) and everything is working out good but I'm going to order some drawers (I have basic trays right now) for it in a few weeks so I think I may need to up the ante and do something like what you've done.


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## sum12nv (Aug 22, 2011)

Thanks everyone. It was a fun project and still running strong.


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## Benthe8track (May 21, 2013)

Wow looks fantastic!


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## PAMedic (May 29, 2013)

Glad I found this. Something I really need to do. Don't suppose you do contractor working central PA?


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## WNYTony (Feb 12, 2014)

Very nice build. I'm considering doing one myself but have a question on the fans. From the pictures I see there looks to be a circulation fan in the back of the unit itself. So is it really necessary to put additional fans in a wineador or is it only necessary if you don't plan on plugging the wineador in and running it ? I realize that air circulation is important but aren't these things supposed to circulate the air ? Thanks for all the knowledge you guys pass along - you really help out us newbies.


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## C.Scott (Mar 28, 2014)

WNYTony said:


> Very nice build. I'm considering doing one myself but have a question on the fans. From the pictures I see there looks to be a circulation fan in the back of the unit itself. So is it really necessary to put additional fans in a wineador or is it only necessary if you don't plan on plugging the wineador in and running it ? I realize that air circulation is important but aren't these things supposed to circulate the air ? Thanks for all the knowledge you guys pass along - you really help out us newbies.


Great question! The heatsink fan only runs when the cooler is cooling, which could be as little as a few minutes per day depending on ambient conditions. Using a secondary fan allows the air to circulate more often, which is important for preventing mold as well as spreading out any residual cold air from the heatsink and humidity from the humidifier source.


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## WNYTony (Feb 12, 2014)

C.Scott said:


> Great question! The heatsink fan only runs when the cooler is cooling, which could be as little as a few minutes per day depending on ambient conditions. Using a secondary fan allows the air to circulate more often, which is important for preventing mold as well as spreading out any residual cold air from the heatsink and humidity from the humidifier source.


Thanks for that answer and that does make sense to me, but I guess what makes this different than a big coolidor - is it the cooling factor ? When I see the coolidors they never seem to have fan installs and people just suggest opening them once a week or so to circulate some air in. This setup has a fan that while it may only run a little bit - does run and assuming you open it once in a while to grab some sticks.......

Looking at doing one for my setup, but my location is in an upstairs room which gets as high as 75-77 degrees during summer days when I am not home and also gets down to 15% rh in the winter months. Was thinking a wineador is my best option to keep steady temp during summer months and steady rh during winter as the room wouldn't suck it out like it does my humidors. I was thinking I could possibly unplug it during the winter months but then would lose the fan and then may need to add one so maybe it would just be better to just add one right up front.

Thanks for your knowledge.


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## hott wheellzz (Feb 7, 2014)

Looks great! and looks like you got it stocked up with some pretty good sticks:tu


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## C.Scott (Mar 28, 2014)

Regarding fans, my actual experience is limited, but I think you're fine as long as you "air out" the humidor every week or so. My reason for installing a fan is to help make my wineador as maintenence-free as possible, especially since I might go a month or 2 without ever opening the door. 2 months is a long time for cigars to be sitting in stale air, in my opinion, although I don't have any proof to back that up. Also, In a coolidor, there is no cooling element, so the entire interior will always be the same temperature, whereas in a wineador, there are warm zones and cool zones unless you use a fan to merge them. I also think many coolidors don't use fans simply because there isn't really an easy way to do it.


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## WNYTony (Feb 12, 2014)

C.Scott said:


> Regarding fans, my actual experience is limited, but I think you're fine as long as you "air out" the humidor every week or so. My reason for installing a fan is to help make my wineador as maintenence-free as possible, especially since I might go a month or 2 without ever opening the door. 2 months is a long time for cigars to be sitting in stale air, in my opinion, although I don't have any proof to back that up. Also, In a coolidor, there is no cooling element, so the entire interior will always be the same temperature, whereas in a wineador, there are warm zones and cool zones unless you use a fan to merge them. I also think many coolidors don't use fans simply because there isn't really an easy way to do it.


Excellent points -especially the warm/cold zones. I saw the way you did yours and that was impressive but I don't have those skills.
2 months without opening the door - I hope that means you have a stash in another box somewhere !


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## C.Scott (Mar 28, 2014)

Unfortunately the reality is sometimes I have don't have enough time to have more than one a month these days... hopefully with summer coming up I'll be getting outdoors more, and thus more reasons to enjoy cigars! On the plus side, less time to smoke my stash means that it's easy to build up a good supply. Plus, one of the reasons I have no time is because I travel outside the US a lot, which means I can load up on the ones we all love the most


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## WNYTony (Feb 12, 2014)

C.Scott said:


> Unfortunately the reality is sometimes I have don't have enough time to have more than one a month these days... hopefully with summer coming up I'll be getting outdoors more, and thus more reasons to enjoy cigars! On the plus side, less time to smoke my stash means that it's easy to build up a good supply. Plus, one of the reasons I have no time is because I travel outside the US a lot, which means I can load up on the ones we all love the most


Dude - you're in Sacramento, what's with the summer is coming ? Here in NY we got snow last night and it's still below freezing.
Ha ha - we're all waiting for summer.
Jealous of those imports - one of these days I'm going to be able to get my hands on one and see if all they say is true.
Safe travels and thanks for the tips.


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## WNYTony (Feb 12, 2014)

Picking up my Newair tomorrow and I think your pictures have sold me on the 4 drawer/2 shelf in Bloodwood - that looks really sharp.
Glad I have this thread as a resource - thanks for sharing Jason.


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## JCubed (Mar 5, 2014)

Would putting boxes in front of the main/central fan mess with the airflow? Does that shelf need to stay open?

I've been mulling over building one for a week or two, and I still don't know if I'm handy enough to do the job right, and I don't want to half-ass it.


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